Comparison of Adjectives

Take a look at these examples:

Scotland is colder than England. (cold)

It's farther than England from France. (far)

England is sunnier than Scotland. (sunny)

It's the biggest country in the UK. (big)

River Severn is the longest river in the UK. (long)

London is more beautiful than Cardiff. (beautiful)

Nessie is the most famous monster. (famous)

What happened with the adjectives? How do we make comparatives and superlatives of short/long adjectives?
Short adjectives get the -er ending in the comparative and -est ending in the superlative. For long adjectives we put more (comparative) and most (superlative) in front. Don't forget to put THE in front of the superlative form!

Irregular adjectives should be learnt by heart!

Now, complete these sentences:
1 ..... subject is ..... . (difficult)
2 ..... TV programme is ..... . (boring)
3 I feel ..... on ..... than on Monday. (happy)
4 I think ..... is ..... than winter. (beautiful)

Irregular Comparison of Adjectives

There is a group of adjectives that don't follow the rules when they form their comparative and superlative.These adjectives need to be learnt by heart:

GOOD - BETTER - THE BEST

BAD/ILL/EVIL - WORSE - THE WORST 

MUCH/MANY/A LOT OF - MORE - THE MOST

LITTLE - LESS - THE LEAST

FAR (distance only) - FARTHER - THE FARTHEST

FAR (degree) - FURTHER - THE FURTHEST

OLD (family members) - ELDER - THE ELDEST

Irregular Comparison of Adjectives

Some adjectives have irregular comparison:

good - better (than) - the best,

bad - worse (than) - the worst,

little - less (than) - the least,

much / many - more (than) - the most

Complete the sentences:

1 A pound of the _____ (good) butter, please.

2 He knows French _____ (much) than his brother, but _____ (little) than Peter.

3 She has _____ (many) Italian books than German.

4 He is _____ (bad) swimmer in our class.

5 Tom is _____ (ill) today than yesterday.  

Regular Comparison of Adjectives

Most adjectives get the -er ending in comparative and the -est ending in superlative:

short - shorter - the shortest,

happy - happier - the happiest,

thin - thinner - the thinnest

Complete the sentences:

1 Do you want the _____ (big) or the _____ (small) size?

2 John is the _____ (old) and Mary is the _____ (young) in the family.

3 Newton is one of the _____ (great) British scientists.

4 There are _____ (few) desks here than in the other classroom.

5 Where is the _____ (near) florist's?

Adjectives

Find the opposites:

sunny, young, warm, happy, dirty, right, wide

clean, left, narrow, rainy, unhappy, old, cold

Possessive Adjectives

To show possession, use possessive adjectives: my, your, his, her, its, our, their.

Complete the sentences:

1 Jane has a horse. _____ horse is very old.

2 The cat sleeps in _____ basket.

3 I have a nice bedroom. I like _____ bedroom.

4 I need help with _____ homework.

5 He always helps _____ parents.

Comparison of Adverbs

There are three degrees of comparison:

- Positive (the adverb is in its base form)
Jim drives fast.

Sally sings beautifully.

- Comparative (two nouns or qualities are compared)
Tom drives faster than Jim.
Mary sings more beautifully than Sally.

- Superlative (at least 3 nouns or qualities are compared)
Mike drives fastest.

Ellen sings most beautifully.

In English, some comparisons are regular and others are irregular.

Most adverbs have regular comparison. Short adverbs get the -er ending in comparative and -est in superlative. With long adverbs, more or most are added in front.

The adverbs with irregular comparison need to be learnt by heart:
well - better - the best,
badly - worse - the worst

*****

Postoje tri stepena poređenja:

- Pozitiv (prilog je u svom osnovnom obliku)
Jim drives fast. (Džim brzo vozi.)

Sally sings beautifully. (Seli lepo peva.)

- Komparativ (dve imenice ili osobine se porede)
Tom drives faster than Jim. (Tom vozi brže od Džima.)
Mary sings more beautifully than Sally. (Marija peva lepše od Seli.)

- Superlativ (najmanje 3 imenice ili osobine se porede)
Mike drives fastest. (Majk najbrže vozi.)

Ellen sings most beautifully. (Elena najlepše peva.)

U engleskom jeziku, neka poređenja su pravilna, a druga su nepravilna.

Većina prilogva ima pravilno poređenje. Kratki prilozi dobijaju nastavak -er u komparativu, a -est u superlativu. Kod dugih priloga more (=više) i most (=najviše) se dodaju ispred priloga.

Prilozi sa nepravilnim poređenjem se moraju učiti napamet:
well (=dobro) - better (=bolje) - best (=najbolje),
badly (=loše) - worse (=gore) - the worst (=najgore).

Make sentences using the comparison of adverbs:

1 Bob / run / fast / Tom

2 Jack / play tennis / well / Ed

3 Jane / draw / well

4 May / speak French / well / Mike

5 Nick / swim / fast

6 Sam / climb / high / the other children

Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the adverbs:

1 Harry wins every race. He runs _____ every time. (fast)

2 How _____ do you speak English? Do you speak _____ your friends? (well)

3 Ted gets up _____ his brother. (early)

4 Jill swims _____ Mary. (well)

5 Henry can run _____ Dean. (fast)

6 Jim plays _____. Joe plays _____ Jim, and John plays _____. (well)

Circle the correct word:

1 How does the boat go? - Slow / Slowly.

2 Is three your lucky / luckily number?

3 They live happy / happily.

4 Jane sings nice / nicely.

5 The boy's sitting quiet / quietly.

Put in the  correct adverb:
happily, slowly, quickly, carefully, beautifully
1 He sings _____.
2 He is happy. He smiles _____.
3 Don't do your homework _____.
4 Do it _____.
5 Cross the street _____.

Superlatives

Complete the sentences with a superlative form of the adjectives:

1 It's a very nice room. It's _____ in the hotel.

2 It's a very cheap restaurant. It's _____ one in the town.

3 It's a very long river. It's _____ river in the world.

4 She's a very clever pupil. She's _____ pupil at school.

5 It's a very expensive car. It's _____ car in the shop.

Make sentences:

1 Sally / pretty / the girls

2 Johnson / good / the players

3 Mrs Brown's garden / clean / the street

4 Joe / good / the boys

5 Main Street / long / the town

See if your friends know any tallest, smallest, fastest or biggest facts:

1 The biggest city in the world is _____.

2 The fastest animal in the world is _____.

3 The smallest planet is _____.

4 The longest river in the world is _____.

5 The highest mountain on the Earth is _____.

Fill in the blanks using the correct form of the adjective in brackets:
1 Australia is _____ (small) continent in the world.
2 That house is _____ (old) building in the town.
3 Lucy is _____ (good) pupil at Maths in her class.
4 London is _____ (large) city in Great Britain.
5 Mike's grandpa is _____ (funny) in Mike's family.

Comparatives

Fill in the blanks.
1 The blue car is fast, but the red car is _____.
2 The pink car is clean, but the white car is _____.
3 December is cold, but January is _____.
4 May is warm, but June is _____.
5 The green car is slow, but the black car is _____.

Make sentences using the comparative forms.
1 the bear / strong / the dog
2 Ken / tall / his brother
3 the sun / big / the earth
4 May / hot / October
5 grandfather / old / father
6 a cake / sweet / ice cream

Write sentences. Use comparatives:
1 a Rolls Royce / expensive / a Peugeot
2 Bristol / famous / Oxford
3 a book / interesting / a film
4 roses / beautiful / violets
5 tigers / dangerous / cats

Opposites

Complete the list:

pretty - _____,

good - _____,

angry - _____,

bad - _____,

happy - _____,

ugly - _____,

sad - _____,

hot - _____.

Match the opposites:

1 old                         A tall

2 big                         B stand up

3 in front of             C right

4 cold                       D small

5 sit down                E warm

6 left                       F behind  

7 short                    G young

Give the opposite meaning of the following:
1 Stand up.
2 Come here.
3 It's black.
4 A boy.
5 Close the window.
6 Don't write this.
7 You are not late today.
8 he is going there.
9 Sit down.
10 It's early.

Comparison of Adjectives

There are three degrees of comparison:

- Positive (the adjective is in its base form)

Peter is tall.

Peter is not as tall as his father.

- Comparative (two nouns or qualities are compared)

Peter is taller than John.

- Superlative (at least 3 nouns or qualities are compared)

Peter is the tallest of all the pupils in his class.

In English, some comparisons are regular and others are irregular.

Most adjectives have regular comparison. Short adjectives get the -er ending in comparative and -est in superlative. With long adjectives, more or the most are added in front.

The adjectives with irregular comparison need to be learnt by heart:
good - better - the best,
bad / ill / evil - worse - the worst,
little - less - the least,
much/many - more - the most,
far - farther/further - the farthest/furthest

*****

Postoje tri stepena poređenja:

- Pozitiv (pridev je u svom osnovnom obliku)

Peter is tall. (Petar je visok.)

Peter is not as tall as his father.(Petar nije isto tako visok kao njegov otac.)

- Komparativ (dve imenice ili osobine se porede)

Peter is taller than John. (Petar je viši od Džona.)

- Superlativ (najmanje 3 imenice ili osobine se porede)

Peter is the tallest of all the pupils in his class. (Petar je najviši od svih đaka u njegovom odeljenju.)

U engleskom jeziku, neka poređenja su pravilna, a druga su nepravilna.

Većina prideva ima pravilno poređenje. Kratki pridevi dobijaju nastavak -er u komparativu, a -est u superlativu. Kod dugih prideva more (=više) i the most (=najviše) se dodaju ispred prideva.

Pridevi sa nepravilnim poređenjem se moraju učiti napamet:
good (=dobar) - better (=bolji) - the best (=najbolji),
bad (=loš) / ill (=bolestan) / evil (=zao) - worse (=gori) - the worst (=najgori),
little (=malo) - less (=manje) - the least (=najmanje),
much/many (=mnogo) - more (=više) - the most (=najviše),
far (=dalek) - farther/further (=dalji) - the farthest/furthest (=najdalji)

Make sentences:
1 a tiger / fast / a bear
2 London / large / Belgrade
3 a horse / clever / a cow
4 The Thames / short / the Mississippi
5 a bear / strong / a wolf
6 a tortoise / slow / a rabbit

Read the sentences and write the ages:
Wendy is thirteen. Tom is eight years younger than Wendy. Janet is twelve years older than Tom. Simon is seven years younger than Janet. Mitch is ten years older than Simon.

Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the adjective in brackets:
1 This film is _____ that film. (funny)
2 December is _____ October. (cold)
3 This play is _____ that one. (good)
4 Mary is _____ Violet. (pretty)
5 This apple tree is _____ that one. (high)
6 The weather today is _____ yesterday. (bad)

Use the given adjectives in their correct form:
heavy, short, young, big, cold, fast, sunny
1 Is a rabbit _____ than a snail?
2 Our school is _____ than our house.
3 Winter is _____ than summer.
4 John's brother is _____ and _____ than him.
5 Today is _____ than yesterday.
6 Your basket is _____ than my bag.

Think about your family. Compare them with you.

Read the sentences, answer the questions and fill in the blanks.
The green book has 150 pages. The yellow book has 50 pages. The newspaper has only 16 pages.

1 Which is thinner, the green or the yellow book?
2 Which is thinner, the green book or the newspaper?
3 Which is the thinnest/thickest?

1 The green book is _____ the yellow book.
2 The yellow book is _____ the green book.
3 The newspaper is _____. 

Favourites

Answer with 'I like' or 'I don't like':

1 I like this book. (fantastic) - Yes, I like it too. I think it's fantastic.

2 I like these posters. (horrible)

3 I like T.T. (boring)

4 I like R.W. (great)

5 I like this record. (bad)

6 I like BSB. (good)

Talk and write about your favourites:

E.g. I like (male/female pop star). I think he/she's great.

I also like (band). I think they're fantastic.

My favourite record is _____.

Compare your likes with your friend's. Express your opinion.

A: Who's your favourite pop star or band?

B: I like _____.

A: Yes, I don't like him/her/them. I think he's/she's/they're horrible/boring/bad/awful/rubbish/terrible.

Do a class survey to find out the 5 most and least favourite pop stars/bands/TV programmes...

The weather

Match the weather words to the situations:

1 It's raining.              A It's hot today. Let's go to the beach.

2 It's sunny.               B It's very cold in the mountains. Minus ten degrees.

3 It's cloudy.              C It's wet outside. Take an umbrella.

4 It's windy.               D Don't drive on the motorway today. You can't see anything.

5 It's foggy.               E The tree in the garden has fallen down. 

6 It's snowing.            F I think it's going to rain today.

Answer the questions about the weather:

1 What's the weather like today?

2 What's the weather like today at the South Pole?

3 What's the weather like in England in October?

4 What's the weather like in Spain in August?

5 What type of weather do you like?  

Make weather records for one week.

Match the synonyms:

1 very hot                   A chilly

2 very cold                  B boiling

3 quite cold                 C stormy

4 quite warm               D freezing

5 very wet                   E mild

6 quite wet                  F showery

Match the weather words to the seasons:

1 sunny days, showers, mild                    A spring

2 snow, fog, storms, freezing                 B summer

3 wind, chilly, clouds, wet                       C autumn   

4 boiling, blue skies, sunshine, dry          D winter